(Boston Herald) — On their first day in the Hub, a group of Cherokees hoping to confront Elizabeth Warren over her Native American heritage claims blasted the Democrat for trying to dismiss the ancestry controversy as a non-issue in the Bay State U.S. Senate race.

“Poverty, teen suicide, our health care system,” said Cherokee genealogist Twila Barnes in an interview today with the Herald. “Those are issues and those are the people she stepped on and used to benefit and now she says it’s not an issue. Well, of course, to her it’s not an issue because she doesn’t want to address that she did this.”

Ali Sacks, a Cherokee from Warren’s home state of Oklahoma, had harsher words: “It’s cowardly to ride the coattails of people who have lost so much for your own benefit and not accomplish what you can accomplish on your own benefits. I think it’s shameful and extremely disrespectful not just to Cherokees but to all tribes who have given so much to this country historically and lost so much.”

Four Cherokee women are in Boston for four days hoping to arrange a meeting with Warren. A spokeswoman for the Warren campaign told the Herald Sunday a staff member would greet the group, but the women told the Herald this morning they’ve still heard nothing from the campaign. […]

Warren’s camp responded late today with this statement: “The people of Massachusetts are concerned about their jobs, the future for their kids, and the security of their retirement. Scott Brown would rather talk about anything else. The out-of-state group in question is being promoted and supported by a right wing extremist who is on the record supporting and contributing money to Scott Brown. It is past time we moved on to the important issues facing middle class families in Massachusetts — even if Scott Brown won’t.”